In my excitement, I've jumped ahead of myself; I should give you a little more information about the trip itself.Spearheaded by the generous folks at the Chinese Agape Foundation, the focus of this medical mission trip to Changde was purely cleft lips and palates. Additional support came from the Jackson Family Foundation, the CARIS Foundation, and SmileTrain.
I first heard about this trip through friends and colleagues at Stanford; they had been on a previous year's mission (to a different part of China). Having had such incredible cleft surgery experiences in Guatemala and Mexico, I jumped at the opportunity to join this year's trip to Changde. I recruited my friend Charles, another Stanford-trained plastic surgeon, and we joined a team of about 30 Americans hoping to do good things for the people of China.
Although I had traveled a bit in Asia before, I had never been to mainland China. The sheer mass of people here impressed me every day. This is the view from our home away from home, the fifth floor of the Jinyue International Hotel. You can see the density of housing structures, but always with a little bit of planned greenery interspersed here and there.
Breakfast: noodles, made to order. I'm not even going to show you the first plate of food I devoured that morning.
Our first official day of work in Changde. But before we could start, a very official opening ceremony, held on the basketball courts outside the hospital.In the photo above, you can make out Max, our fabulous no-nonsense OR nurse, heading for her seat, while Alex, one of the other plastic surgeons, is escorted to his by a bevy of beautiful Chinese ladies in traditional cheongsams.
There were many speeches this morning. First, the Chinese officials, followed by an English translation. Then, the American foundation heads, followed by a Mandarin translation. The American portion of the audience roasted patiently in our seats in the oppressive heat and humidity. I don't know how Ron Brown managed to stay so dapper in his suit.
And the entire time in China, I never saw any of the locals ever break a sweat. Amazing.
The local nurses, looking so lovely in their old school uniforms.
Finally, off to work. This is the view from the entryway to the operating room suites, on the 12th floor of the hospital. That grayish haze? Every day in Changde, blanketing the city in a warm, wet, dirty embrace. I didn't see any sign of the sun until the second week there - but I definitely felt it.
My first patient. This little heartbreaker was a 6 month old boy with an incomplete cleft lip. Notice the logo on his shirt. We saw it everywhere, on everyone - men, women, and as you can see, even babies - apparently one of the most popular clothing brands in China, Kappa.The hospital itself was pretty well equipped and run. Unlike the previous medical mission trips I had been on, where we were MacGyvering it in desperately rural parts of the country, this hospital in Changde was essentially like your typical community hospital here at home.
Of course, there were a lot of adjustments to be made, especially figuring out how things worked the first day, with a formidable language barrier. Western medicine and surgery are pretty universal, but every place has its own particular style and procedures. Learning how to scrub and prep to keep the Changde circulating nurses from losing their minds was like becoming a third year medical student all over again. Overall, the partial assimilation process was entertaining, with just the tiniest whiff of frustration on both sides. All you can do is laugh a little together.
The day after surgery. He wasn't letting anyone get between him and a meal.
This charmer was my second patient of the trip. Another 6 month old boy, this time with a complete unilateral cleft lip. He was a remarkably peaceful baby; I think he had learned to work his cleft to the max - he seemed to enjoy stuffing almost his entire hand into his mouth for comfort. So cute.
The next day, with mom, who was so happy to see her little boy's lip repaired.
My new friend, Alex, hard at work. He'll join the plastic surgery staff at USC in the fall.My old friend, Charles, observing intently. He's currently on staff at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, here in San Jose.
That was an awfully long stretch without a food photo. After dining at the "westernized food" section of the hospital, we finally caught on and joined the regular hospital staff for their meal service.A little spicier, and oh so good. Clockwise, from the top left of the tray: braised pumpkin, spicy stir fried cabbage, chicken with peppers, a really tasty special Changde-style milled rice condiment (just hot enough), savory beans, and the requisite serving of watermelon.
Enjoying lunch in the doctors lounge: Charles, Jen (our unflappable anesthesiologist from Las Vegas), and Alfred (an oral maxillofacial surgeon from Hong Kong, one of the veterans on this trip).
The streets are dotted with little storefronts open late into the night, usually selling an assortment of fresh fruits and cool beverages. If you're tough, you can bargain with the shopkeeper to get the price down from 5RMB to 3 (saving yourself the equivalent of about 20 cents, but really, it's a matter of pride).I was so excited to see my favorite tropical fruits - a lot of which aren't readily available fresh in the States. I had the pleasure of introducing longan, rambutan, and mangosteen to the crew. You can see Carin (the official trip photographer, a lovely girl slumming it at Harvard) learning how to pick a good mangosteen.
We opted out of the durian. Not hotel-friendly.
Nighttime at the hospital.
